


Holodeck Untamed

by bread_and_tea



Category: Star Trek, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF, 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: BJYX | Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan is Real, Crossover, Description of a wound, First Dates, Holodeck Malfunction, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Minor Injuries, Swearing, The safeties are off, Yizhan - Freeform, bjyxauweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:28:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22223350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bread_and_tea/pseuds/bread_and_tea
Summary: Xiao Zhan won the coveted four-hour holodeck time slot, but his friends all get assigned to a last minute away mission and his precious holodeck time is in danger of going to waste. Luckily his fellow engineer Wang Yibo isn't as cold as he initially appeared and eagerly accepts Xiao Zhan's invitation for some afternoon recreation! What could possibly go wrong...?
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Holodeck Untamed

**Author's Note:**

> This is set during the Deep Space 9 era, but before the Dominion War.
> 
> There is a plague subplot, but the _USS Feilong_ and her crew are able to save the day with no loss of life. This was written long before there was an actual pandemic, so I am adding this note because I think plagues are all too real for a lot of people now.

Xiao Zhan had been ecstatic when he’d won the yearly lottery for the only private four-hour holodeck time slot. He’d consulted with Xuan Lu, Meng Ziyi and Yu Bin to pick a time that worked for everyone and immediately started writing. They could have played one of the existing programs, but Xiao Zhan had used to design holodeck games back in his civilian life and hadn’t had a chance to flex those muscles in far too long. And with a six-month lead between when he had won and when the four of them all had overlapping free time, Xiao Zhan had something truly epic in mind.

But then came the distress call from the colony on Nuwa a day before their appointed quest. As disasters went, it was relatively minor. Starfleet had a very effective cure for this particular plague, the _Feilong_ was close enough to respond before things got fatal, and their med bay was equipped to manufacture enough antidote for the entire colony. It was one of those close calls Xiao Zhan tried not to think about too much or he’d never stop crying. He was just thankful they’d made it on time.

But as a medical technician, Meng Ziyi was the first to cancel on their Holodeck adventure. She’d sent the message before they’d even reached geosynchronous orbit around Nuwa. Xuan Lu had cancelled next. As a councilor, she would be planetside for any colonists or crew who needed her services. Plagues, even ones where everyone survived, where hard on the psyche. And then Yu Bin had actually tracked down Xiao Zhan to apologise in person. Captain Yang was increasing the security presence on the planet and Yu Bin had been called up.

And so there was Xiao Zhan, glumly running diagnostics in Engineering, extremely happy that the _Feilong_ was rescuing an entire colony but also feeling very sorry for himself that his precious four-hour holodeck slot was going to waste. He supposed he could set everyone’s characters to NPC and play alone, but it wouldn’t be the same and might actually be more depressing than not playing at all. Maybe he’d just run the cat café sim for four hours and bury himself under a mound of kitties.

The door alert chimed and Xiao Zhan turned to see Specialist Wang saunter in. The kid was the newest member of the crew, but he’d been in Star Fleet for years, having been scouted for a special program at the academy when he was only thirteen. Xiao Zhan had himself been fast tracked through the academy after a shuttle engine he’d designed for a game turned out to not only be financially and physically feasible, but to also solve an overheating issue that had plagued the original design for generations. He’d already had a university degree, and the academy had agreed to transfer most of his credits. Then he’d tested out of all most all of the intro classes, and the end result was an extremely accelerated path to a ship assignment. It embarrassed him sometimes, especially around people like Wang Yibo, who had put in so much time at the academy. So Xiao Zhan tried to just focus on the work, and prove himself there.

He nodded politely as Wang Yibo walked past, and the kid returned the salute with a distant look on his face. Xiao Zhan wouldn’t call Wang Yibo cold, he was just incredibly reserved, only coming out of his shell with a few select people, none of whom were currently serving on the _Feilong._ Combined with Xiao Zhan’s own shyness, they had spent months on the same shift hardly ever speaking to each other. 

Wang Yibo sat at his station and immediately got to work. He was always so intense and focused, one of the most productive members of the team even though he was also the youngest. Xiao Zhan stared discreetly as Wang Yibo checked the warp core readings, tongue peeking from the corner of his mouth.

Before his brain caught on to what his mouth was doing, Xiao Zhan found himself saying, “Specialist Wang, are you free after this shift?”

Wang Yibo turned to look at him, frowning. “Why?”

Xiao Zhan shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “I have a four-hour slot in the holodeck coming up. And I wrote this whole adventure that’s just going to go to waste because everyone else is planetside. So...maybe you want to play it with me?”

As if those words were some kind of powerful catalyst, Wang Yibo’s face suddenly when through an astonishing phase conversion. Gone was the aloof, cool reserve, replaced in a flash by the most resplendent smile Xiao Zhan ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Wang Yibo actually jumped up from his station to dash over to Xiao Zhan’s side.

“You wrote a new game? Yes, yes, I want to play!” Wang Yibo was bouncing on the balls of his feet, brimming over with a manic energy that Xiao Zhan had never seen him evince before. He couldn’t help smiling widely at the younger man.

“Wait, you know my games?”

“Of course, your games are the best! I have all of them.” 

“Why haven’t you ever said anything?” Xiao Zhan’s games weren’t actually that popular, although they did have something of a cult following, and it was always nice to talk to people who enjoyed playing them.

Wang Yibo just shrugged one shoulder, suddenly shy, his demeanor once again completely shifting like liquid mercury. “You probably get fans bugging you all the time. I didn’t want to bother you.”

How had Xiao Zhan never realized that Wang Yibo was so _cute_? That ice prince facade was a formidable barrier, but now that it was gone Xiao Zhan just wanted to reach out and stroke those adorable round cheeks. He laughed breathlessly and tried to get a hold of himself. “I can’t believe Wang Yibo—hot-shot engineer, record-breaking shuttle racer, Parrises Squares champion—likes _my_ games.”

Wang Yibo’s smile grew even cuter. How was that humanly possible? He spoke very softly. “You know about me?”

Xiao Zhan cleared his throat and nodded. “The way you free-styled that repair to the pulse converter was really impressive, so I looked you up. And then I was even more impressed. I’m really lucky to work with you.”

“No, I’m lucky to work with you! I’ve seen those theoretical designs you did for Chief Zheng! They’re amazing! One day technology will catch up to your imagination and you can really build them.” Wang Yibo kept grinning at him, the tips of his ears slowly turning red. Xiao Zhan stared back, smiling until he finally had to look away, unable to withstand the intensity. 

He fumbled with his PADD, pulling up the summary of the game he’d created. “Do you want to, um, pick your character? There are a few NPCs I think you could take over.” 

Wang Yibo leaned over to look, resting against Xiao Zhan’s shoulder. “Wow, you made character bios and everything. This is so cool, Specialist Xiao.” 

Xiao Zhan blushed with pleasure. None of his friends had really reacted to the game info he’d put together, but he’d gone all out, including a world history, character bios, and even illustrations. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed drawing until he started on the first character design. Before he knew it, all the named characters had at least rough sketches to accompany their stats.

“Oh, what about that guy? He looks cool. I like his sword.” Wang Yibo pointed at Lan Zhan a.k.a Lan Wangji a.k.a the great Hanguang-jun.

“He _is_ cool. Super strong warrior and he goes where the chaos is. I wrote him to come rescue us if we get in over our heads. Like a panic button that doesn’t disrupt the narrative flow. But he doesn't have a plot of his own, so he’s actually a really good choice. It won’t affect the story if you take him over.”

Wang Yibo threw his hands over his head and grinned like gremlin. “I am the great Hanguang-juuuuun!” 

Wang Yibo’s PADD beeped and he looked down to check the notification, face suddenly all business. Then he smiled and looked back up and Xiao Zhan. “The final diagnostics on turbolift 6 look good. Whatever was wrong earlier isn’t wrong now. Will you send me all that info so I can look it over at lunch?”

“Do you want to get lunch with me? We can go over it together if you want.”

Wang Yibo grinned and nodded, bright eyes locked on Xiao Zhan’s face. Xiao Zhan felt a blush forming and quickly dropped his gaze to his work station.

They spent the rest of the first half of their shift in Main Engineering together, doing the routine maintenance and diagnostics required to keep the engine purring and the ship from exploding. It gave them a lot of time to talk, and when lunch time finally rolled around, they were playing like children and using each other's first names. By the time shift ended, it was like they had known each other forever.

They parted ways at the Engineering deck to return to their quarters and get into character. They had just enough time to eat a quick bite and put on their costumes before they were due at the holodeck. Xiao Zhan had done a lot of research to get the clothing just right for the game. He was wearing long, slim black robes with a crimson under robe that flashed from beneath the darker fabric as he walked. He’d even gone so far as to design wigs, and he now had long hair pulled up in a half-ponytail secured by a red ribbon. He twirled a flute between his fingers as he sauntered down the hall to collect Wang Yibo. 

He pressed the buzzer and the door immediately whoosed open. Wang Yibo was standing on the other side, wearing the _entire_ costume, from the many-layered white robes to the tall silver hair piece. Xiao Zhan had sent him all the costume specs, but he hadn’t actually expected Wang Yibo to replicate everything. But there he was, in the full Hanguang-jun. He’d even done something to his boots so that he towered over Xiao Zhan, just like Lan Wangji would have. He looked fucking amazing.

Wang Yibo smirked and did a little spin in the doorway. “What do you think? Handsome?”

Xiao Zhan struggled to find the right words as they started towards the holodeck. _Gorgeous, beautiful, breath catching!_ Damn, that long hair really suited him. Xiao Zhan finally settled on the bland, “You look really good, Yibo.”

Wang Yibo stroked a hand down his chest to smooth his robes and grinned. “You look really good too, Zhan-ge. Very striking. But where’s your sword?”

Xiao Zhan waved his flute. “I don’t really like fighting, so I’m only armed with this. It’s basically a sleep charm. Yu Bin was going to have my back for anything big.”

With a flourish, Wang Yibo drew his sword. “Don’t worry, Zhan-ge. Nothing will get you while I’m around.”

They reached Holodeck A before Xiao Zhan had to expire from all the cuteness and the door swooshed open as it registered the com badge affixed to the collar of his robe. This holodeck had been refurbished recently, and Xiao Zhan hadn’t had a chance to use it since. But he was very excited because this update included a replicator.

“Oh cool! Look, Zhan-ge, this holodeck has a replicator!” Wang Yibo ran to the far wall to investigate, Lan Wanji robes fluttering all around him. Xiao Zhan followed at a slower pace, queueing the game up on his PADD and sending it to the holodeck.

“Yeah, I added a lot of tea houses to the map, so we can stop and get refreshments whenever we want. It will even do synthehol! If we play again, I’ve got a whole banquet planned for the second arc.”

Wang Yibo looked at him with appreciation. “Nice way to integrate the tech, Zhan-ge. Is it Starfleet food, or ancient Chinese like the setting?”

Xiao Zhan looked a little offended. “Who do you take me for? Of _course_ I researched to food. I really want this to be an immersive experience.” Then a slightly guilty look crossed his features. “But I didn't have time to taste test it all, so I’m not a hundred percent sure everything is going to replicate well.”

“I’ll help test it, Zhan-ge. I love trying new food.”

“Be careful saying things like that, Yibo. I might hold you to it.”

The lights in the holodeck dimmed and a chime announced that their game was starting. Suddenly the black and green grid was replaced by a road leading endlessly in either direction. To one side was a sparse forest, to the other a shallow river. The horizon was rimmed with mountains and the sky was clear. The river chuckled, and somewhere in the trees a bird cheeped. Xiao Zhan did a 360° inspection, nodding in satisfaction. You could never get the full sense of your creation until you were actually standing in it.

Wang Yibo was running around with his sword unsheathed, slashing at the river and the tall grass growing on its banks. Then he whirled to face Xiao Zhan and bellowed, “Zhan-ge, look at me! I can fly!”

He leapt into the air and flew off towards the forest. Lan Wangji’s ability to essentially fly for short distances by jumping had intrigued Wang Yibo so much that Xiao Zhan hadn’t switched off the skill, even though he hadn’t been sure how well it would translate to a real person versus a hologram. Apparently the upgrade had included some decent microgravity controls, because Wang Yibo got some serious air as he fast-fluttered toward the trees. 

Xiao Zhan chuckled but something caught his eye, and he frowned as he bent down to examine the grass Wang Yibo had been mutilating. Incidental damage to the environment should just fade away, but this grass was not repairing. And it was _glowing._ Xiao Zhan pulled his PADD from out of his robe and tapped into the code of the game, trying to find where he’d fucked up.

He wasn’t having any luck finding the source of the error when the sound of boots on the road brought his head up. He was expecting Wang Yibo, and had a wide smile ready for him. But it was a group of locals who shouldn’t have shown up for at least another half hour. Xiao Zhan always like to leave some free time at the beginning of a game for exploration. Why was the narrative rushing like this? He frowned. “Computer, pause the game and reset to the beginning of play.”

The computer did not acknowledge his command. “Computer?” Again, no response. The crowd was close enough now to see him, and one of them pointed to the glowing PADD screen.

“Look, he’s using demonic cultivation!”

“It’s the Yiling Patriarch!”

“What? No, I’m Wei Wuxian, humble flutist and wandering cultivator. I’m not—”

“Get him!” The crowd began to chase him, the cultivators with swords taking the lead. Xiao Zhan turned and fled. What was happening to his beautiful game?!

“Wang Yibo, get back here! I need you to protect me, you asshole! Lan Wangji! Hanguang-jun! Lan Zhaaaaan!”

Wang Yibo can flying out from trees, landing with majestic grace between Xiao Zhan and the pursuing locals. “Trouble already? I thought you said we got to mess around a little before the story started. I was having fun flying!”

“I don’t know what’s wrong! This isn’t something I wrote and the computer isn’t responding!” Xiao Zhan grabbed Wang Yibo’s sleeve in panic. He really did not enjoy the unexpected, which is why he only ever played his own games or low-key sims like _Frolic in the Snow_.

The locals, who had abruptly halted when Wang Yibo arrived, now started muttering angrily to each other. One of the cultivators at the front, a Lan crowd-filler judging by his robes, waved his sword indignantly. “Yiling Patriarch, how dare you try to corrupt the great Hanguang-jun!”

“Zhan-ge, who’s the Yiling Patriarch?” Wang Yibo unsheathed his sword and stepped even closer to Xiao Zhan.

“The big surprise villain! They shouldn't even know that name yet, and it’s definitely not me!”

Wang Yibo tucked Xiao Zhan against his side and glowered at the locals, sword held steady in front of them. It felt completely natural for Xiao Zhan to wrap his arm around Wang Yibo’s chest, fingers lightly curling into the collar of his robe. 

But the locals hissed and visibly recoiled. “The Yiling Patriarch is truly shameless! Kill him!”

Someone in the crowd was armed with a bow, and the next thing Xiao Zhan knew an arrow was flying right at him. He ducked instinctively, and it only glanced off his arm rather than hitting his chest. But he stared in shock as blood began to seep past the shredded fabric of his robe.

“Holy fuck, that arrow cut me! Shit, Yibo, the safeties are off!”

Wang Yibo took one look at the blood on Xiao Zhan’s arm, scooped him into his arms like a damsel in distress and flew off in a whirlwind of white. The locals chased them for a bit, but eventually just screamed after them about all the ways they wanted to kill the Yiling Patriarch. Xiao Zhan curled into Wang Yibo’s chest and thanked whatever merciful spirits were out there that the microgravity controls still worked. 

Wang Yibo finally dropped down at a small farm house and carried Xiao Zhan inside, barring the door behind them. He set Xiao Zhan on the high work table in the middle of the room. “Zhan-ge, let me see your arm. Are you okay?” His voice was quivering a bit, and he’d lost some of the Hanguang-jun bravado he’d displayed on the road.

“I’m okay, Yibo. It’s just a scratch, really. But it scared me. I always play with the safeties on high, and I never wrote a mob scene like that.”

Wang Yibo was nervously plucking at the torn fabric around the wound and his face looked so worried, bottom lip jutting out in a tense pout. Xiao Zhan smiled at patted his cheek. “Here, help me get this robe off and we can bandage my arm, okay?”

Xiao Zhan fumbled for a second at his belt before Wang Yibo took over, untying the knot so the outer robe fell open. He gently tugged the sleeve off Xiao Zhan’s wounded arm while Xiao Zhan shrugged his uninjured arm out of the other sleeve. His outer robe dropped to the table top to pool around his hips and he sat there in just his crimson under robe.

Now that they could see it better, it was simultaneously clear that the injury wasn’t deep and that it was also a lot more serious than Xiao Zhan had expected. The arrow head had sliced down almost to the muscle, and the layers of his skin gaped open wide enough for Xiao Zhan to actually see his own meat. And it was really starting to bleed now! Xiao Zhan’s face paled abruptly and he wavered where he sat. 

Wang Yibo curled an arm around Xiao Zhan to keep him from toppling over. “Don’t worry, Zhan-ge. You just concentrate on breathing and I’ll take care of this. Close your eyes and breathe. Did you know I took the advanced emergency medic training at the academy? This little cut is nothing. Just a pressure dressing and you’ll be fine.” Wang Yibo kept up his cheerful chatter as he carefully ripped the damaged sleeve from the crimson robe and used it to tightly wrap Xiao Zhan’s arm. 

“All right, now we just need something to tie it.” Xiao Zhan was about to offer his hair ribbon when he heard a _shssing_ sound and opened his eyes. Wang Yibo had removed his Lan headband with one hand while keeping the bandage on Xiao Zhan’s arm tight with the other. Then he deftly wrapped the headband around the dressing in a complicated criss-crossing web, adjusting the Lan cloud emblem when he was done so that it lay flat against Xiao Zhan’s arm. 

“There, Zhan-ge. Now we just need to find a place to hide until someone figures out there’s a malfunction or our Holodeck time is up. The next person in line will definitely send an angry help request to Engineering.”

Xiao Zhan smiled shakily at that too-true comment. “We should go to Burial Mounds. It’s were the real Yiling Patriarch lives.”

“And you’ll be safe there?”

“Well, it’s so creepy there that no one would dare come after us. There’s vengeful spirits, and fierce corpses, and this blood pool, and—”

Wang Yibo was looking very unhappy. “Zhan-ge, why would you write something horrible like that? You never have scary stuff in your games.”

“Um, Yu Bin wouldn’t play unless I put in something gory for him. So there’s this whole part where he and Meng Ziyi fight the Yiling Patriarch while Xuan Lu and I explore the lake at Lotus Pier. I wanted him to have fun, so I made Burial Mounds super scary.”

Wang Yibo was really distressed now. “I’m sorry, Zhan-ge. I can’t go there. I can’t do scary things. That’s why I love your other games so much. There’s never anything spooky and it’s always a happy ending.”

Xiao Zhan reached out and stroked Wang Yibo’s cheek with his uninjured hand. “It’s okay, Yibo. We’ll think of something else. I wasn’t eager to hang out in Burial Mounds either, to be honest. And I’m glad you like happy endings. They’re my favorite too.”

Wang Yibo pressed his face into Xiao Zhan’s palm and looked at him through his thick eyelashes. With Xiao Zhan sitting on the table, their faces were just about level, even with the Lan Wangji wedges in Wang Yibo’s boots.

They sat there staring at each other, Wang Yibo pushing against Xiao Zhan’s hand like a giant, lazy cat. Xiao Zhan imagined brushing his thumb across Wang Yibo’s perfect, soft mouth. Drawing that beautiful face closer to his own.

“Oh!” Wang Yibo stood up suddenly. “We can go to _Gusu_! I’m Hanguang-fucking-jun and I can hide who ever I want at Cloud Recesses and no one can do a damn thing about it!”

Xiao Zhan looked at Wang Yibo in wonder. He was absolutely right, no one would dare search Cloud Recesses and the Lan sect wouldn’t question their Hanguang-jun. But in his panic, Xiao Zhan hadn’t even considered that possibility. “That’s a really good idea, Yibo. You really _are_ Hanguang-jun.”

Wang Yibo smiled and held out a hand to help him off the table while Xiao Zhan continued to prattle. “Cloud Recesses is actually one of my favorite settings. I put in all these water features, like casades and koi ponds. Oh, and I can show you Lan Wangji’s quarters. They—”

As soon as he stood up, Xiao Zhan’s vision went blurry and his face blanched, going cold and clammy. The room tilted. 

“Nope, no passing out, Zhan-ge!” Wang Yibo caught him, but Xiao Zhan stopped him before he could go into full emergency medic mode. 

“It’s okay, I was just woozy for a second. It’s not like I lost a lot of blood or anything. I’ll be fine.” Wang Yibo looked skeptical and kept his arms firmly around Xiao Zhan. It was actually nice to be fussed over. Usually that was Xiao Zhan’s job, and he was enjoying Wang Yibo’s soft protective streak. 

“Come on, Yibo. We should get going.” Xiao Zhan patted Wang Yibo’s shoulder and tried to step away, but Wang Yibo stayed close as they walked to the front yard of the farm house. As they reached the front gate, Wang Yibo’s face lit up with what Xiao Zhan now recognized was him having a clever idea. 

“Wait right here, Zhan-ge. I have a surprise for you!” Wang Yibo dashed around the side of the house and Xiao Zhan leaned against the fence. What was this kid up to now?

Wang Yibo rounded the corner again, this time leading a little donkey all dressed up like it was going to a wedding, it’s tack covered in silver ornaments and red tassels. Xiao Zhan smiled, remembering how much fun it had been to design the festive gear. No boring harnesses in _his_ game! “Look, Zhan-ge! I got you a ride! I saw it when I was flying over earlier.”

Xiao Zhan laughed. “Wang Yibo, did you steal a donkey for me?”

“No way, I left a big pile of currency behind.” He pulled a little money pouch from the front of his robe and shook it. “Lan Wangji is _loaded_.” It was endearing the Wang Yibo was playing honest even though the game was glitched. Lan Wangji's money pouch was coded to constantly refill. Xiao Zhan had thought it best to have the walking panic button come with unlimited funds.

Wang Yibo and the donkey were now abreast of the gate and Xiao Zhan was trying to figure out how to climb up. Wang Yibo solved the puzzle by just lifting him and depositing him side-saddle on the donkey’s back.

“Thanks, Yibo!” Xiao Zhan said a little breathlessly. He petted the donkey’s head. At least the programming for the animal seemed to be behaving, since it was standing there placidly and not bucking him off or trying to bite him. “I really like the donkey you got me.”

“There were some chickens too, if you want one.” Wang Yibo looked like he might actually go back and grab the fowl for Xiao Zhan.

“Uh, no thanks. I don’t think a chicken would make a good travel companion.”

“Mm, you’re right. All your other games have fuzzy animals somewhere. Does this one, or does Yu Bin have something against cuteness?” Wang Yibo grabbed the donkey’s harness and led it out to the road.

Xiao Zhan concentrated on staying seated, but after a moment got used to the swaying motion. “Well, there are rabbits at Cloud Recesses. They’re an easter egg, though. You have to know where to look.”

Wang Yibo looked up at Xiao Zhan, a soft smile playing across his lips. “Good thing I brought you, then, huh? Will you show me all your secrets?” His eyes were really bright, and Xiao Zhan couldn’t help staring at his lips, which parted slightly under his scrutiny. Xiao Zhan gripped the donkey’s harness and the animal slowed to a stop. 

“Yibo…” Xiao Zhan reached out and Wang Yibo stepped closer until he was standing within the arc of Xiao Zhan’s spread knees. Xiao Zhan leaned forward and Wang Yibo’s arms rose up naturally to curve around him. Xiao Zhan stared at Wang Yibo reverently as the donkey suddenly disappeared right out from under him!

Xiao Zhan tumbled through the air, Wang Yibo’s arms still tightly wrapped around him. They fell with an _oomph_ to the shock-resistant floor of the holodeck. Xiao Zhan landed on top of Wang Yibo and tried to lever himself up, accidentally putting all his weight on his injured arm. He hissed at the pain.

“Zhan-ge, be careful!” Wang Yibo grabbed Xiao Zhan’s hand and pulled it from the ground, keeping him from putting any weight on it. The move pitched Xiao Zhan sideways, and he was now resting completely on top of Wang Yibo’s chest.

“Whoa, okay! Glad you two don’t need rescuing!” A voice called out to them from across the room. They both looked over in sync to see Wang Zhuocheng, an engineer from second shift, standing in the open doorway with his hand covering his eyes. “That bug is all fixed, go back to whatever you’re doing!” The door wooshed shut behind him, leaving Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo in the artificial dusk of the inactive holodeck.

Wang Yibo let his head drop to the ground and flung his arm over his eyes. “We should get you to medical to have that arm looked at, Zhan-ge.”

Xiao Zhan shook his head emphatically. “No way, we still have...Computer, how long do we have left in our session?”

“Three hours, thirteen minutes,” The computer replied in its sonorous monotone.

“We can just grab some skin glue from the first aid kit. It really doesn’t hurt unless I do something stupid like land all my weight on it. So, how about it? We were on our way to Cloud Recesses, weren’t we?”

“Oh, is that what we were doing?” Wang Yibo slid his arm off his eyes and stared boldly up at Xiao Zhan with a wicked smirk.

Xiao Zhan caught his breath and managed to whisper the command, “Computer, restart game. Disable all NPCs.”

**Author's Note:**

> The working title for Xiao Zhan's holodeck adventure is "The Unamed." He plans to solicit suggestions for a real title after his friends play. Wang Yibo's vote: Hanguang-jun's Make Out Paradise.
> 
> Next time on _Star Trek: Feilong_...  
> Major Malfunction
> 
> The day after the holodeck incident, the malfunctions that have been jumping from system to system attack the replicators in the med bay. Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo are sent to fix it, but whatever is wrong has suddenly become more serious than the earlier issues with the turbolift and the holodeck. This won’t be a quick fix.
> 
> The medical team on Nuwa suddenly contacts the ship with an emergency report: the plague has mutated and the vaccine is no longer working. The entire colony, including everyone in the away team, have been exposed to this new, deadlier version of the plague.
> 
> Luckily, the doctors were able to isolate the mutation and formulate a new vaccine. But they don’t have the facilities to mass produce the vaccine on the planet. The Feilong’s med bay needs to start synthesizing batches immediately, before things get dire planetside. Too bad the med bay replicators are borked.
> 
> Meng Ziyi, Xuan Lu and Yu Bin are all still on the planet and have been exposed. Xiao Zhan sends messages to them saying everything will be okay, he and Wang Yibo will get the replicators working!
> 
> Furious engineering ensues. Wang Zhuocheng helps too. Eventually they discover the cause and fix it just in time to begin sending down batches of vaccine. Yay! 
> 
> [I posted this to twitter, but thought I should add it here too.]


End file.
